Any feedback appreciated!

[jbt9]

General Question: Are there any changes I can make to knock off a few £ to get pretty much the same performance? I want to keep this PC for as long as possible, not looking to upgrade any components for 5 years or so if I can help it. My main uses will be for gaming, High end 1440p/60Hz 4k. Current cost is £2161, not looking to spend much more, probably a max of £2200.

General Thoughts Regarding Component Choice

Case: I wanted the Corsair 5000D in black but they only have it in white so went for this one with two large fans included instead.
CPU: Good price/performance alternative to the out of stock 7800x3d
Motherboard: Wanted a PCIe 5 with built in WiFi
Memory: Dual channel 32GB total - 6000Mhz with I assume CL30?
GPU: Lots of VRAM - Not really interested in DLSS with Nvidia
SSD: Only 1 SSD rather than a boot/storage drive combo. Would a boot/storage combo be a better idea? I dont need much storage - Ive had my 512GB storage laptop for 4 years and not been close to running out of space.
Power Supply: Slightly over the recommended 750W - allows overhead for CPU/GPU upgrades in the future
Cooler: Again over specced but for the low wattage CPU but its more future proof
Fans: One extra case fan as an exhaust fan, dont think I need any other intakes beside the 2 x 140mm provided in the case
Microsoft license: If you dont choose to include a paid license, do PCS install a windows 11 trial version?
Warranty: 3 year warranty just incase


Case
FRACTAL FOCUS 2 ARGB GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.5GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME X870-P WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
20GB XFX RADEON™ RX 7900 XT MERC 310 - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 990 EVO M.2, PCIe 4.0 & 5.0 NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4200MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
1 x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed

 

[Ekans2011]

General Question: Are there any changes I can make to knock off a few £ to get pretty much the same performance? I want to keep this PC for as long as possible, not looking to upgrade any components for 5 years or so if I can help it.

General Thoughts Regarding Component Choice

Case: I wanted the Corsair 5000D in black but they only have it in white so went for this one with two large fans included instead.
CPU: Good price/performance alternative to the out of stock 7800x3d
Motherboard: Wanted a PCIe 5 with built in WiFi
Memory: Dual channel 32GB total - 6000Mhz with I assume CL30?
GPU: Lots of VRAM - Not really interested in DLSS with Nvidia
SSD: Only 1 SSD rather than a boot/storage drive combo. Would a boot/storage combo be a better idea? I dont need much storage - Ive had my 512GB storage laptop for 4 years and not been close to running out of space.
Power Supply: Slightly over the recommended 750W - allows overhead for CPU/GPU upgrades in the future
Cooler: Again over specced but for the low wattage CPU but its more future proof
Fans: One extra case fan as an exhaust fan, dont think I need any other intakes beside the 2 x 140mm provided in the case
Microsoft license: If you dont choose to include a paid license, do PCS install a windows 11 trial version?
Warranty: 3 year warranty just incase


Case
FRACTAL FOCUS 2 ARGB GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.5GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME X870-P WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
20GB XFX RADEON™ RX 7900 XT MERC 310 - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 990 EVO M.2, PCIe 4.0 & 5.0 NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4200MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
1 x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed

What's the purpose of that system? What monitor will you pair with it? What's your maximum budget?

Please read before posting:- Collaboration of Helpful Hints

NB: These forums are not an official support channel. None of us work for PCS, we're all either customers or techies who just like to help out where possible. For any official support, you need to contact PCS directly either through your PCS account, or via the contact details on the main...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[jbt9]

What's the purpose of that system? What monitor will you pair with it? What's your maximum budget?

Please read before posting:- Collaboration of Helpful Hints

NB: These forums are not an official support channel. None of us work for PCS, we're all either customers or techies who just like to help out where possible. For any official support, you need to contact PCS directly either through your PCS account, or via the contact details on the main...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

What's the purpose of that system?
Mainly gaming.

What monitor will you pair with it?
Just using my tv at the minute. Its 4k 60Hz but will get a higher refresh rate 1440p monitor at a later date.

What's your maximum budget?
The current cost of this system is £2161, I dont think I'd spend much more, probably £2200 max.

 

[Ekans2011]

What's the purpose of that system?
Mainly gaming.

What monitor will you pair with it?
Just using my tv at the minute. Its 4k 60Hz but will get a higher refresh rate 1440p monitor at a later date.

What's your maximum budget?
The current cost of this system is £2161, I dont think I'd spend much more, probably £2200 max.

Granted, I wouldn't buy a PC today because the new hardware will be announced in the first week of January at CES, and you can get a better machine for the same, if not less money; here's what I'd go for a 1440p gaming PC.

N.B. If you transfer your current OS license, you'll save £110 and stay inside your budget.

Case
CORSAIR 6500X TEMPERED GLASS MID TOWER DUAL CHAMBER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core CPU (Up to 5.2GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB GIGABYTE RADEON™ RX 7800 XT GAMING OC - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W RMx SHIFT SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR ICUE LINK TITAN 360 RX RGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed
Price: £2,277.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/Dcuksj8j9H/

 

[jbt9]

Granted, I wouldn't buy a PC today because the new hardware will be announced in the first week of January at CES, and you can get a better machine for the same, if not less money; here's what I'd go for a 1440p gaming PC.

N.B. If you transfer your current OS license, you'll save £110 and stay inside your budget.

Case
CORSAIR 6500X TEMPERED GLASS MID TOWER DUAL CHAMBER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core CPU (Up to 5.2GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB GIGABYTE RADEON™ RX 7800 XT GAMING OC - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W RMx SHIFT SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR ICUE LINK TITAN 360 RX RGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed
Price: £2,277.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/Dcuksj8j9H/

Thanks for your response.

Agreed about the price/timing, however I am also concerned about any potential price increases in the event of tariffs so its not an obvious choice about when to buy.

Case: Any particular reason for the case change? This one is £148, almost double my original case choice which I assumed was large enough with good airflow. I wont need an AIO cooler if thats one of the reasons for the change. 9700x has a 65W TDP so should be cooled easily with the air cooler.

CPU: I dont see the 9800x3d lowering in price any time soon, its only been out for just over a month. I did a fair bit of research and the 9700x quite comparable to the 7800x3d with a low TDP.

GPU: Not a huge amount of difference between 7800xt and 7900xt but the extra VRAM will make it more future proof.

PSU: Why the 1200W PSU? This seems a bit overkill

Cooling: Will the 200W TDP PCS Airc cooler not be sufficient in this case? Im not particularly interested in Maintaining an AIO/RGB.

Storage: I like the dual drive option. Not heard of SOLIDIGM before, would you recommend them over Samsung?

Warranty: Would you not recommend the 3 year warranty? Not sure if its unnecessary but just peace of mind for me really.

Thanks!

 

[SpyderTracks]

TDP is irrelevant, it’s max wattage that’s important. TDP is literally a made up metric that any manufacturer can pluck out of thin air, has zero relation to actual power useage.

On modern CPUs above entry level, aircoolers just aren’t sufficient if you want the available boost clocks.

 

[Ekans2011]

Case: Any particular reason for the case change? This one is £148, almost double my original case choice which I assumed was large enough with good airflow. I wont need an AIO cooler if thats one of the reasons for the change. 9700x has a 65W TDP so should be cooled easily with the air cooler.

Personal choice and significantly more available space than the Fractal case (which, by the way, is a good budget option).

FYI, the 9700X has a maximum power draw of 170W.

CPU: I dont see the 9800x3d lowering in price any time soon, its only been out for just over a month. I did a fair bit of research and the 9700x quite comparable to the 7800x3d with a low TDP.

I believe this video will explain it better than I could...

GPU: Not a huge amount of difference between 7800xt and 7900xt but the extra VRAM will make it more future proof.

Both GPUs would be obsolete in a matter of weeks; it makes no sense to ''future proof'' at the end of generation.

PSU: Why the 1200W PSU? This seems a bit overkill

The 1200W RMx SHIFT is ATX 3.1, which includes transient spikes protection, improved components, more efficiency at low loads, and is a newer standard. The 850W is an old ATX 2.4 that will not provide enough headroom for the entire life of the machine.

Cooling: Will the 200W TDP PCS Airc cooler not be sufficient in this case? Im not particularly interested in Maintaining an AIO/RGB.

There are no good air coolers available for PCS. These models are low-quality and prone to failure. I would not suggest them.

AIOs don't require any particular maintenance beyond what is required for air coolers.

Storage: I like the dual drive option. Not heard of SOLIDIGM before, would you recommend them over Samsung?

Samsung is no longer the same as it once was; SolidiGM is an SK Hynix rebrand: more reliable and, in my opinion, the best available on PCS.

Warranty: Would you not recommend the 3 year warranty? Not sure if its unnecessary but just peace of mind for me really.

The silver one will suffice, but you can easily select gold or platinum.

 

[jbt9]

Personal choice and significantly more available space than the Fractal case (which, by the way, is a good budget option).


I believe this video will explain it better than I could...

Both GPUs would be obsolete in a matter of weeks; it makes no sense to ''future proof'' at the end of generation.


The 1200W RMx SHIFT is ATX 3.1, which includes transient spikes protection, improved components, more efficiency at low loads, and is a newer standard. The 850W is an old ATX 2.4 that will not provide enough headroom for the entire life of the machine.


There are no good air coolers available for PCS. These models are low-quality and prone to failure. I would not suggest them.


Samsung is no longer the same as it once was; SolidiGM is an SK Hynix rebrand: more reliable and, in my opinion, the best available on PCS.


The silver one will suffice, but you can easily select gold or platinum.

I appreciate your detailed response. I'll consider each of these points and do more research.

Thanks!